Tuscaloosa seeks to clarify election laws

Annual Legislative Breakfast includes to-do list for local legislators

Tuscaloosa City Council hosts its annual Legislative Breakfast on Thursday to give the mayor and council members a chance to highlight legislation they either oppose or support to the members of the Alabama Senate and House of Representatives who represent this area. Lawmakers return to Montgomery in January.

File | The Tuscaloosa News

By Jason MortonStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 12:35 a.m.

An effort to clarify some of the inconsistencies in the state’s voting laws will be part of the legislative requests the Tuscaloosa City Council makes today during its annual Legislative Breakfast.

The breakfast is hosted each year to give the mayor and council members a chance to highlight legislation they either oppose or support to the members of the Alabama Senate and House of Representatives who represent this area.

Among the 18-item resolution adopted unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday is the council’s support of election law revisions.

Mayor Walt Maddox said the request is not for immediate action but rather to start a conversation on how to address concerns and questions raised during the 2013 municipal election.

“What we want to begin is a dialogue,” Maddox said. “We’re not seeking anything specific because it’s a little too early and we still have a pending court case.”

The court case is the ongoing legal challenge of the city’s Board of Education District 4 race, which challenger Cason Kirby won over incumbent Kelly Horwitz by an 87-vote margin.

Horwitz filed a legal challenge to the Aug. 27 results on the grounds that at least 167 of the votes cast should be invalidated because the voters didn’t meet residency requirements or cast their ballots based on illegally offered inducements.

In November, Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Jim Roberts dismissed the challenge, ruling that the evidence and existing law allowed only 70 ballots to be considered questionable.

The questions remain as to how — and who — is responsible for enforcing the residency requirements for voting as set out in Alabama law.

Title 11 of the Alabama Code requires voters casting ballots in an election to have lived in the district or ward for at least 30 days and have registered not less than 10 days prior to the vote.

But Title 17, which states the Board of Registrars cannot register someone to vote less than 10 days prior to an election, makes no reference to the 30-day residency requirement.

Additionally, there is nothing in Alabama law that gives detailed instructions on how to update voter residency or registration. It’s all voluntary and the responsibility of the voter.

There is no agency or office charged with mandated updates of the voter rolls. The only instruction given is how to purge non-active voters from the voting list — that comes after a vote is not cast in two election cycles — but a voter who has moved across town could, theoretically, cast ballots in the former district.

The next municipal election won’t occur until 2017, and Maddox said he hopes some answers to the questions can be found by then.

“We want to use this window now to look at legislation that might mitigate some of the concerns that came out of the recent election cycle,” Maddox said.

Other items on to be presented to the local delegation include:

Support for legislation to bolster tornado recovery efforts.

Support for funding and ALDOT construction of the University Boulevard Bridge in Alberta.

Opposition to any legislation adverse to the city’s water and sewer operations.

Support for Lake Tuscaloosa extraterritorial zoning.

Opposition to drug sales exemptions from the gross receipt total that is used to determine business license fees.

Support for adequately funding the state General Fund budget to eliminate unfunded mandates for municipalities.

Opposition to statewide business licensing and sales tax collections.

Opposition to limitations on business license fees.

Support for modernization of the state’s bicycle laws.

Support for increased contributions to the Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Fund.

Opposition to limitations on business license fees.

Support for legislation requiring the sellers or lessors of property to provide occupancy restriction information.

<p>An effort to clarify some of the inconsistencies in the state's voting laws will be part of the legislative requests the Tuscaloosa City Council makes today during its annual Legislative Breakfast.</p><p>The breakfast is hosted each year to give the mayor and council members a chance to highlight legislation they either oppose or support to the members of the Alabama Senate and House of Representatives who represent this area.</p><p>Among the 18-item resolution adopted unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday is the council's support of election law revisions.</p><p>Mayor Walt Maddox said the request is not for immediate action but rather to start a conversation on how to address concerns and questions raised during the 2013 municipal election.</p><p>“What we want to begin is a dialogue,” Maddox said. “We're not seeking anything specific because it's a little too early and we still have a pending court case.”</p><p>The court case is the ongoing legal challenge of the city's Board of Education District 4 race, which challenger Cason Kirby won over incumbent Kelly Horwitz by an 87-vote margin.</p><p>Horwitz filed a legal challenge to the Aug. 27 results on the grounds that at least 167 of the votes cast should be invalidated because the voters didn't meet residency requirements or cast their ballots based on illegally offered inducements.</p><p>In November, Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Jim Roberts dismissed the challenge, ruling that the evidence and existing law allowed only 70 ballots to be considered questionable.</p><p>On Dec. 3, Horwitz appealed Roberts' ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court.</p><p>The questions remain as to how — and who — is responsible for enforcing the residency requirements for voting as set out in Alabama law.</p><p>Title 11 of the Alabama Code requires voters casting ballots in an election to have lived in the district or ward for at least 30 days and have registered not less than 10 days prior to the vote.</p><p>But Title 17, which states the Board of Registrars cannot register someone to vote less than 10 days prior to an election, makes no reference to the 30-day residency requirement. </p><p>Additionally, there is nothing in Alabama law that gives detailed instructions on how to update voter residency or registration. It's all voluntary and the responsibility of the voter.</p><p>There is no agency or office charged with mandated updates of the voter rolls. The only instruction given is how to purge non-active voters from the voting list — that comes after a vote is not cast in two election cycles — but a voter who has moved across town could, theoretically, cast ballots in the former district.</p><p>The next municipal election won't occur until 2017, and Maddox said he hopes some answers to the questions can be found by then.</p><p>“We want to use this window now to look at legislation that might mitigate some of the concerns that came out of the recent election cycle,” Maddox said.</p><p>Other items on to be presented to the local delegation include:</p><p>Support for legislation to bolster tornado recovery efforts.</p><p>Support for funding and ALDOT construction of the University Boulevard Bridge in Alberta.</p><p>Opposition to any legislation adverse to the city's water and sewer operations.</p><p>Support for Lake Tuscaloosa extraterritorial zoning.</p><p>Opposition to drug sales exemptions from the gross receipt total that is used to determine business license fees.</p><p>Support for adequately funding the state General Fund budget to eliminate unfunded mandates for municipalities.</p><p>Opposition to statewide business licensing and sales tax collections.</p><p>Opposition to limitations on business license fees.</p><p>Support for modernization of the state's bicycle laws.</p><p>Support for increased contributions to the Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Fund.</p><p>Opposition to limitations on business license fees. </p><p>Support for legislation requiring the sellers or lessors of property to provide occupancy restriction information.</p><p>Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.</p>